Masked Rivals /A Kakashi Fanfiction\

Chapter 16

The battle was over, Gaoto's men had all run in fear and now a silence fell over the bridge top.

Sakura approached my unconscious body first out of curiosity, having heard what Kakashi called me.

"Sakura, wait." Kakashi grabbed her by the shoulder, keeping her from getting any closer.

"But, Sensei! She needs our help!" Sakura looked from Kakashi to me. The concrete surrounding my body was stained red with blood. Blood from a wound that needed tending soon before I lost too much of it.

"I'll handle this. You help Sasuke." He ordered her, then came over to me.

"Haruhi-" he snapped his fingers a couple times in front of my face. When I didn't react he just continued on, kneeling down and lifting me up until my back was leaning against his side.

Pain coursed through my shoulder as I was moved and I regained a bit of consciousness...my body felt sluggish and heavy.

"-kashi..." I whispered followed by a hiss. Just the rise of my chest from breathing added a stitch in my shoulder to the pain I was in.

As gingerly as possible, Kakashi slipped the sleeves of my outfit down my arms until the top hung at my waist. The bandages around my torso still covered my chest.

Kakashi pulled a pad of gauze out of one of his vest pockets and pressed it against the wound where the sword had entered. He wrapped his other arm around my front to pick up my shaking hand and placed it over the gauze. "Hold it." He ordered, then slipped his hand out from under mine and reached into another pocket, this time pulling out a roll of bandages.

"Why are the Akatsuki here?" He wasted no time in questioning me as he slowly wrapped the bandages from my shoulder, across my back, under the opposite arm then around my chest and back again.

"The Akatsuki...are not here." I panted through the pain.

"So you're on a solo mission?" He continued, not getting what I meant.

"I'm not on any...mission...I'm not...Akatsuki anymore..."

"Since when?" His tone held disbelief.

"Since our last encounter..." It was difficult, but I managed to turn my head just enough to look at Kakashi. He had paused mid wrap with his hand now resting on my good shoulder as he thought back to the last time he saw me...how Kakuzu knocked me out...

'Maybe...it could be possible' he thought.

"Why the hell...would I...do this...if I was...still Akatsuki..." My breathing started to become more ragged and I was growing light headed again.

"...why did you, Haruhi?" Kakashi asked after thinking about my question for a moment. But I had slipped back into unconsciousness before he even finished the question.

"Has this ever worked on Kakashi?" My voice was raspy, startling Naruto who had tried to creep up on me. His hand was just inches away from the edge of my mask when I came to my senses and caught him without even opening an eye.

He gulped and shook his head no at first, then remembered my eyes were still closed and piped up, "N-no."

"Then why did you think that would work on her?" I heard Kakashi add in from beside me with exactly what I was about to say.

I chuckled and opened my eyes to see the blond kid laugh nervously as he took a few 'innocent' steps back, then darted out the door.

Just the chuckling brought out a hiss in pain, reminding me of my left shoulder and what I had so recklessly done.

'But it wasn't reckless...it was me or-

'

"You're finally awake." Kakashi said to get my attention. I had clenched my eyes shut again in that hiss of pain and got a bit lost in my thoughts.

"Finally?...How long was I out?"

"Almost three days." Kakashi said as he looked out at the night sky.

"Three days?!" I finally looked over to him in shock, then got another shock. Kakashi's voice had been to my right and it wasn't until I looked to him that I finally noticed the tight tether around my wrist.

"Really?" I sighed as I lifted up my wrist in reference, which pulled his hand along with it. He had taken the blue wrap that wound up my right arm and tied an end to both of our wrists. Assuming he did it just like the last time he tried this, he was using his chakra to bind them like handcuffs...so they weren't going to budge.

"Really." His response was flat and his gaze emotionless.

"Because..." I asked

"Because I'm bringing you back to the Leaf Village with us. It doesn't matter whether you are or were Akatsuki. You must be questioned and judged for your crimes..." He said like he was reading a line he had rehearsed many times.

"Of course, I must..." I responded sarcastically, "...but you do remember this didn't work last time, right?" I referenced the tether holding us together.

"I remember you had Kakuzu to get you out of these last time...so either you have lied and Kakuzu is with you hiding somewhere-" he gave me a steely gaze like he was waiting for my expression to waver and tell him that he was right, "-or you are telling the truth...in which case you are far too weak to attempt breaking out on your own." He added once he was done assessing my reaction.

"I'm weak because I saved your ass." I grumbled and reached my right hand over to poke at the hole in his vest that was just above his heart. "You're welcome by the way..."

"You're right-" he grabbed my right hand with the left that was tethered to mine and shifted so he could grasp it in both hands, "Thank you."

I wasn't sure if my mask contained the blush I could feel heating my cheeks, but I certainly hoped it did.

"Are you feeling okay?" His monotone voice suddenly had some concern in it.

'Nope...blush not contained...

'

Our tethered hands stayed grasped together, but his other hand let go and he pressed the back of his hand against my forehead. My cheeks grew a deeper red from his touch and concern, which luckily for me, he seemed to be confusing for a fever.

"I-I'm fine." I stammered, brushing his hand away from me.

"You don't look or sound fine." He said, having noticing my stutter. "Here, you should try eating something then getting some more rest. We're heading out in the morning, so you're going to need your strength." Kakashi picked up a plate I hadn't noticed setting beside him.

My eyes landed on the plate full of food that Tsunami had left in case I woke up, and instantly my stomach growled. Kakashi chuckled as I practically snatched the plate from his hand and began tearing apart the roll of bread.

I paused, giving him a sideways glance with a quirked brow, and he pretended to clear his throat and cough to cover his chuckle.

"So, what happened?" Kakashi asked, breaking the silence that had consumed the room as I ate.

"What do you mean?" I set down the empty plate by my side and looked over to him. His expression was blank again with a studying gaze.

"The Akatsuki. Did they kick you out or did you leave? What happened?"

"That's of no importance." I hoped he'd leave the conversation at that. Just thinking about what Pain had tried to do to me that night...I could feel the tears that threatened to surface...and if I talked about it...I've never shown weakness in front of Kakashi before. I'm not going to start now

"No importance?...you want me to trust you...to believe you're no longer apart of the Akatsuki, but you won't tell me about it?" He questioned, trying to pressure me to talk.

"I don't want it to be important!! To speak it! To remember it!" I shouted at him, losing my cool and my tears.

Upset and not thinking as I just didn't want Kakashi to see me crying, I rolled over to my side so he could only see my back.

Bad idea...

Instantly I remembered the wound I was still nursing as pain burned through the shoulder I just stupidly rolled my weight onto. I quickly rolled onto my back to relieve it. I bit my lip as i groaned in pain, trying not to be too loud and attract attention from the others.

After a moment of silence, I slowly opened my eyes that I had clenched shut from the pain. At first I stared straight up at the ceiling, not daring to look in Kakashi's direction while I hoped he would mistake my tears to be from the pain of what I just did.

My staring contest with the ceiling didn't last long. Still sitting up, Kakashi leaned over on his elbow and cupped my cheek with his free hand. He turned my head to face him. "They did something to you, didn't they?" His voice was gentle and the way he stared into my eyes...I felt like an open book.

All I could muster was a head nod as the memory of Pain pinning me to the table flitted across my mind...and that was it...I closed my eyes to try and stop the tears, held my breath to keep my chest from heaving and bit my lip again trying to hold in hiccups.

Kakashi didn't say another word as he laid on his back next to me. Then as gently as he could manage without putting pressure on my shoulder, he pulled me onto my side and laid my head on his chest. His tethered hand laced through mine and gave my hand a light squeeze letting me know it was okay to cry. And I did. I let go and softly cried into his chest, and all the while he combed his other hand through my hair as he waited for me to let it all out.

I never really gave myself a moment to really be upset about what happened. His attack wasn't the only thing that happened that day...I lost my family and the only life I knew...but I went straight to anger and revenge, bottling everything else inside.

Kakashi's heartbeat and the steady rise and fall of his chest under my head slowly calmed me, until I finally fell asleep still curled against his side.